NYT Publisher Issues Statement on Meeting With Trump

A.G. Sulzberger poses for a photo on the 16th floor of the New York Times building in New York. (Damon Winter/The New York Times via AP, File)A.G. Sulzberger poses for a photo on the 16th floor of the New York Times building in New York. (Damon Winter/The New York Times via AP, File)

(Newser)
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The publisher of the New York Times has released a statement following President Trump's tweet about a meeting the two had together July 20. According to AG Sulzberger, the White House requested the meeting, which Trump said Sunday morning centered around the "vast amounts of Fake News being put out by the media." In response, Sulzberger said he accepted the meeting "to raise concerns about the president’s deeply troubling anti-press rhetoric" and labeling of the media as an "enemy of the people." As CNN notes, Sulzberger said the Times chose to share details of the off-the-record meeting after Trump's tweet.

"I warned that this inflammatory language is contributing to a rise in threats against journalists and will lead to violence," Sulzberger said. While the president has frequently singled out the Times, often by calling it "failing," Sulzberger said he tasked himself with defending the press as a whole. "I was not asking for him to soften his attacks on The Times if he felt our coverage was unfair," Sulzberger said in his statement. "Instead, I implored him to reconsider his broader attacks on journalism, which I believe are dangerous and harmful to our country."